Being a Wolf
by lrhaboggle
Summary: Alice Cullen's romantic affections for Jacob Black finally get the best of her and she runs away to a new school. Pity she didn't look at the school's mascot just a bit closer.


Alice Cullen scowled as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She hated her new high school uniform with an unmatched passion. Why? Well, because there was a giant wolf head smack in the middle of it! Why was this problem? Because the whole reason she decided to attend this school in the first place was to get away from wolves. And now she was stuck as one of them?

"Great!" she grunted angrily. But then her anger turned to sadness. The reason she was trying to get away from wolves at all was because she was in a bit of a rough spot with the werewolves she lived with back at home. One of them, their pack leader, Jacob Black, had been her best friend for quite awhile and recently, those platonic feelings had delved into romantic feelings. The reason this was a problem was because Jacob had already imprinted upon another girl, Renesmee. This meant that she and him were bound for life, soul mates. If Alice ever had any chance with Jacob, it went down the drain the moment Renesmee was born. But of course, Alice loved her niece and Jacob too much to ever come between them. Instead, she did her best just to support them.

Finally, though, it became too much for the little vampire and she actively admitted that she wanted to leave the house for some time. She hid her true motives under the pretense of finding a new school a few states away with a really good arts program that she wanted to try out. Her family sent her off without question, Alice having done this kind of thing before. But of course, Alice had failed to pay closer attention to the school's mascot. Now she had to become very beast she'd come so far to avoid.

Alice tugged on her uniform's collar again. Seeing it on her body and everybody else's made it feel like she really was back with the wolf pack again. And the school cheer (which included some howling) did nothing to ease that fact. All of it was just a cruel reminder that true wolf-ship would never be hers. No matter how hard she might try, she would never be a wolf. This school's wolves were a reminder of that and they were mockeries next to Jacob and his werewolves and now, Alice was one of them. She was one of these phony wolves. The irony was not lost on her.

"I hate being a wolf," she muttered to herself. She wanted to burn the uniform so she didn't have to look at it anymore.

"Why? I think being a wolf suits you," a deep voice outside the bathroom called out. Alice whipped around in shock to see Jacob.

"Hey Alice," he gestured for her to come out. Alice obeyed dazedly. She knew her sense of precognition never worked around werewolves, but seeing Jacob here, right while she was thinking of him too, was so surprising that she lost her sense of self for a moment and could only gawk.

"What brings you here?" she asked finally, unsure of whether this surprise was good or bad. Part of her reveled in the fact that Jacob was here with her without Renesmee, but part of her felt awful because she knew it wouldn't be too long before Jacob would go back…

"Just had to get something off my chest," he admitted.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Renesmee and I haven't been doing so well of late," Jacob, for once, looked insecure. It was strange to see such a big man looking so nervous.

"Is she ok?" Alice asked in concern, looking up at Jacob. She was a whole two feet smaller than him.

"Yes, _she's_ ok," Jacob nodded. Then his frown deepened. "It's me that's the problem," he confessed.

"What do you mean?" asked Alice. Jacob gave her a nervous look, but he told his tale anyway.

He had indeed imprinted on Renesmee and he loved her with all his heart, but for some reason, he just didn't like the idea of being her mate. It didn't feel right. Imprinting wasn't as great as he thought it was and he wanted to take charge of his own life and pick his own mate. He wanted to change things. Now, he and Renesmee would still remain close friends, but they were no longer mates. And it was not because of anything Renesmee did, Jacob just couldn't fathom himself as her mate and he finally had decided to put an end to the relationship before it had a chance to progress any further. It was a good start for sure, freeing him from the bonds of imprinting, but now he was alone again. He had no idea what to do. Now that he had actively opposed the imprinting process, he was mate-less again. Or, at least, as of right now, he was. Truth be told, he had already met some special girl that he wanted very much to court, he just didn't know how to pop the question. He had only come here at all to clear his head and try to think of a proper way to tell this other girl how he really felt about her.

"So why did _you_ come here?" Jacob asked Alice as he finished his tale.

"I had to get my mind off of something too," Alice confessed. She wanted desperately to know who it was that Jacob was after, but she knew he wouldn't tell her. Not yet at least. Because of that, she let the issue drop and confessed as much as she dared to him. She ended up telling him the same story that she told the rest of her vampire family: she came here because this school had a good arts program. But in this particular story, Alice did at least confess that one of the werewolves in Jacob's pack had been on her mind of late so she had come here to get away from all of that. She conveniently forgot to mention a specific werewolf.

"So wait, you wanted to get away from wolves so your first course of action was to go to a school with a wolf as a logo?" Jacob laughed. "I thought you didn't like being a wolf!"

"I didn't look too closely at the sign-up forms," Alice replied defensively, but then her scowl faded as she continued to look up at Jacob. _And honestly, I really don't mind being a wolf_ … she added, though she didn't dare voice this sentiment.

"That wolf really got you going then, didn't he?" Jacob asked, his smile turning to a frown as he analyzed Alice's face. He had seen it go from a scowl to a longing expression and he was too dense to realize that the look was directed at him.

"Just a little," the tiny vampire answered the large werewolf, both annoyed and relieved that she hadn't accidently outed herself yet.

"Who was it?" asked Jacob, but Alice shook her head firmly. "No, come on, tell!" Jacob pleaded. "I wanna know. Maybe I can help you!"

"Hmmm, that's sweet, Jacob. But no thanks," Alice said, looking at her feet and tugging her collar again. It was so hot! Vampires weren't normally bothered by temperature changes, but, right now, Alice wanted to be away from this school and sprinting across the snowy plains of Alaska.

"Tell you what," Jacob decided, interrupting Alice's thought. "I'll tell you my person if you tell me yours…"

"Really?" Alice asked, swallowing nervously. She looked back up in time to see Jacob nod. She had never seem him look so terrified before, even when they were about to square off against the Volturi just half a year ago. She wished her future-seeing visions worked around werewolves so she could see what, or who, had Jacob so bothered…

"So do you want to?" Jacob asked when Alice didn't answer right away.

"Yes," she responded.

"Ok," Jacob inhaled. "Just promise you won't kill me when I'm finished," he requested.

"I won't," Alice nodded, deadly serious, then she gestured for Jacob to be out with it.

"You actually know her. The girl I want," he confessed. Despite the tension in the air and the anxiety both of them were feeling, Alice couldn't help but feel a little surprised at this. As far as she knew, she had never seen Jacob look even mildly interested in any of the girls Alice knew, but she stayed silent. The suspense was killing her!

"She's very sweet, friendly, open, funny, and attractive," he went on, turning redder every single second. "And I've kind of had a crush on her for the longest time but I've just never really had the courage to ask her out and I was never really sure how to go about it and-" Jacob continued to stutter out this confession while Alice could only wait, having not been this anxious about the outcome of something since Renesmee's birth. She wanted dearly to urge Jacob on but she knew better than to push him. Instead, she only listened quietly as he continued to ramble about this mystery girl and how wonderful and beautiful she was and how scared he was about asking her out. Finally, though, the big reveal came.

"And the only reason I came out here at all was because her father told me that the best thing to do in this situation was to be forward with her and get it over with. He told me to come and face my fears head on!" he cried. By this time, Jacob's eyes were squeezed shut. When he said that last sentence, however, he dared to peek one eye open and he looked down at Alice. "Well, maybe not _head_ on," he amended. "This girl is about two feet shorter than I am. But you know what I mean, right?"

A month later, Alice and Jacob sat side by side at one of the sporting events the school had to offer. Alice wasn't usually one to watch sports... Actually, she still wasn't. She'd only come to watch her new mate and the delight he took from the game.

"Score!" Jacob hollered, raising his fists to the sky. Alice hadn't taken her eyes off him since the game began. She smiled gently at his enthusiastic nature. It felt so good to see him so playful, especially since most of their past encounters had Jacob brooding worse than Alice's brother, Edward.

"Did you see that?!" he cried, turning to Alice and pulling her into a hug that would've crushed a normal human instantly. "WE WON!"

"Yes, love, I know," she chuckled back, hugging him even tighter because of her vampire strength.

"Goooooo WOLVES!" an announcer thundered suddenly. Alice knew what that meant…

Instantly, the whole stadium was alive with howls and hollers of victory. Jacob was getting into it most of all, his howls sounding the most realistic. Alice, however, had no fear of him losing control and phasing into a wolf. He was just too happy right now. He only phased when angry.

"Come on Alice! Howl with me!" Jacob screamed over the cheering. Alice shook her head, not even bothering to yell back, but then Jacob gave her the world's best puppy face. Alice rolled her eyes, but she tipped her head back and let out a harsh and guttural cry. It was very un-wolfish, but Jacob was too happy to see her trying to care.

"YEAH BUDDY!" he encouraged his mate even though it was clear Alice had no idea how to mimic a wolf call. Jacob began to howl again just as a reflex and he looked so excited and ecstatic that Alice briefly wondered if he was going to pass out. He didn't, though, and the happy couple continued to howl at one another while the stadium all around them did the same as the wolves went home victorious. It was a wonderful night.

The best part of the night, however, happened _after_ the game was over. Alice considered it the best part because it consisted of Jacob kissing her passionately while wrapping her up in his overly-large school sweater. All Alice could think during that sweet, deep kiss was this: _I love being a wolf._

 **AN: I ship these two, for some reason, so here's the result. Alice and Jacob have mutual crushes on each other and Jacob finally chases Alice all the way out of state to tell her and they end up getting married. Alice X Jasper does not exist in this canon and I don't have one particular school I was modeling this fictional one after. Just as long as you know that their logo is a wolf, you're all set.**


End file.
